As part of the
broader challenge of implementing the ‘Centre of Excellence’ programme,
the County Council has developed Cornwall’s first demand responsive
semi-flexible public transport services. The first three schemes were
launched in July 2002, through successful bids to the government’s Rural
Bus Challenge initiative. Two of these schemes, in the east of the
County, were developed in partnership with Plymouth City Council. A
fourth scheme was launched in Novemeber 2002 in the Carnon Vale area.
Unfortunately, due to lack of patronage, the Gunnislake and St Germans
schemes had to be withdrawn, leaving two successful projects running to
date.

This ‘Corlink’ branded service forms an important element of an
integrated approach to public transport that ranges from conventional
bus provision through to community transport.

The diagram below illustrates how the ‘Corlink’ services forwards the
aims of the Centre of Excellence:

Identifying the Need

The need for Corlink services was identified on the basis of
transport studies and research, public consultation, and stakeholder
liaison. This work concluded that in the isolated areas of the County,
people did not have access to a strategic level of public transport, nor
is it the most effective means of serving the relatively small and
scattered population. The consultation exercises also revealed that
despite high car ownership, women, teenagers, people with disabilities,
and the elderly felt particularly isolated and unable to access
employment and education opportunities, health facilities, shopping, and
leisure.

The Concept

Broadly, the ‘Corlink’ concept is based around four central elements:

Semi flexible vehicles
operating within a specific area, which is reviewed regularly.

A dedicated Travel Dispatch
Centre (TDC), which co-ordinates the ‘Corlink’ vehicle bookings, and
the links to conventional services.

Project Implementation

A Project team led by Cornwall County Council was established to
implement the ‘Corlink’ projects. This consisted of County Council and
Plymouth City Council officers, and representatives from bus operators,
and the Rural Transport Partnerships, as appropriate. The team had
responsibility for overseeing all elements of the schemes.

• Branding and Publicity

It was essential to have a strong branding for the public to become
familiar with the concept. The distinctive ‘Corlink’ logo was designed
‘in-house’ and applied to the livery for all the vehicles (including
those on the 55 and the T7 route), the bus stop flags and all associated publicity,
thus enforcing the concept of a fully integrated transport package. A
targeted campaign included a house-to-house publicity leaflet drop,
press interviews, and presentations to individual user groups such as
parish council’s, accessibility groups, health representatives and Youth
Forums.

• Vehicles

Given the varying size and populations of each area, two twelve-seat
and
one eight -seat vehicles cover the Bodmin area, with one eight–seat
in the St German’s area respectively. Two eight-seat
vehicles operate an overlapping shift system in the Carnon Vale area.
However, there is flexibility to move vehicles between the schemes.
In addition, four new super low floor vehicles operate on the enhanced
service 55 route in the Bodmin area, and two on the enhanced service T7
route that integrates with the Carnon Vale minibuses. All the vehicles
are wheelchair accessible.

The Travel Dispatch Centre (TDC)

The TDC is operated through a local bus operator – Truronian Ltd. To
date, this has created two full-time and one part-time job. Mobisoft
were awarded the contract to install the hardware and software systems
necessary to book and co-ordinate vehicle deployment using mobile phone
and satellite technology.

Infrastructure Enhancements

A programme of roadside infrastructure enhancements has been
established, which involves the provision of new lay-bys, shelters with
reactive lighting, and information boards, as appropriate. This is
progressively being phased in throughout the project areas.

Monitoring

Study into the Impact of ‘Corlink’ on Social Exclusion (April
2003)

A snapshot survey carried out with the registered ‘Corlink’
passengers showed that:

38% of passengers
would not have made the journey at all had ‘Corlink’ not been
available.

14% of passengers
would have had to get a lift.

Interviews with key service providers in the area show that support
for the service is high, and that partnership opportunities could be
identified.

The County Council recognise that in order to ensure the longer term
sustainability of the Corlink bus services, the average subsidy cost per
passenger needs to be reduced. This is despite the advantages that the
service brings in providing essential access to services. To this end,
the County Council are working with the operators to continually evolve
the project and work with the community and operators to identify
mechanisms to ensure the high quality, accessible service is maintained
whilst reducing the cost of County Council support. The successful
Rural Bus Challenge bid in 2004 to expand and enhance the Corlink
services in the Bodmin zone will provide an essential means of
continuing this work.

Continuous Improvement

Patronage figures for Corlink across the Bodmin and Bissoe Valley
zones average at approximately 700 per week. This represents a 400%
increase in patronage in the first 18 months of operation. In addition,
this figure is considered particularly significant in the Bodmin zone
where the number of passenger trips is high in proportion to the level
of population (approximately 2000).

Passenger satisfaction surveys are carried out on an annual basis in
the Corlink operating areas.

Of the sample surveyed in the current ‘Corlink’ operating areas in
May 2003:

86% thought public
transport should be given the greatest priority in improving local
transport.

49% used ‘Corlink’
at least occasionally.

80% were satisfied
with the ‘Corlink’ services (this is compared to approx. 50%
satisfaction with conventional services).

However, the Management team now in place
is continually looking for ways in which to improve and build on the
schemes. These improvements include:

Provision of Real Time Passenger Information: a RTPI system has
been developed along the service 55 route, which will increase
confidence for those waiting at isolated bus stops, and improves the
co-ordination of journeys between ‘Corlink’ demand responsive vehicles
and conventional services. The system, awarded to ACIS in December
2001, and the system was launched in December 2002.

Zone Structure: it has become apparent that as demand for the
services increases, the current software package needs to be
restructured in order to accommodate these increasing demands.

Sharing Best Practice: The RBC process has enabled several similar
schemes to be launched in other rural areas in the UK. The County
Council has liaised with Lincolnshire County Council and Hampshire
County Council in order to share best practice and experiences.

Future Proposals

West Penwith Innovative Transport Improvements

The County Council were fortunate to be awarded further Rural Bus
Challenge funding in 2003 for a range of innovative transport solutions
in the West Penwith area.

When the original bid for this project was developed in partnership
with First Devon and Cornwall (FDC), it was anticipated that, further to
the completion of the FDC network review, there would be a need for
another Corlink semi flexible service to operate in the area. However,
after the FDC review had been completed the majority of their services
in the area were maintained and, as such the duplication of conventional
services with a Corlink style service is no longer a feasible or
sustainable option in the longer term.

After confirming with DfT, the capital allocation originally set
aside for the purchase of a new vehicle to operate the Corlink service
will now instead be put towards the purchase of Almex Optima ticket
machines with Real Time capability for the bus fleet operating out of
Penzance. It is felt that by investing the capital allocation in this
way, real improvements can be delivered to bus travel in a rural area.
The Penwith area will also serve as a pilot to test Real Time SMS mobile
bus information before rolling it out to other recent successful
Challenge areas in Cornwall.

In addition, a range of other schemes for West Penwith will be rolled
out over the course of this year, including the introduction of a taxi
bus (the first in Cornwall) and local community bus initiatives.